Dear Miss Praetor,
by YourLogicIsFlawless
Summary: I didn't like change. It was unexpected and was thrown on you at the worst times. You could never defend yourself again'st it, as all the things that were familiar to you get thrown away. I hated change, it scared me. Not that I'll ever admit it.
1. Chapter 1

**What can I say, Dreyna's really growing on me.**

~o~

It's hard to accept change. To throw yourself into something totally different than your normal routine. It's frightening to think about tossing everything you know out the window and trying something totally out of the ordinary, to lose all the familiarity you hold so dear. I don't like change, I've never liked it. Though it seems to be a pretty prominent trend in my life so far. And truthfully, I can say most of them have been part of the more terrible parts of my life. And this, I was convinced, was one of them. I couldn't help but think of all the possible outcomes of meeting them, the Greeks that is.

I was aboard the Argo ll sailing to New York, I'm pretty sure we were somewhere in Philidelphia. Though it was quite impressive, I couldn't help but feel the sour taste of anger in my mouth knowing that this was the weapon that destroyed my home. And that imbecile of a mechanic just so happened to be driving it. It also just so happened, that Jason Grace had to run into me. Probably looking for Piper I guess.

I really hated change.

"Oh-uh, Hey Reyna...I didn't know you were up here." He looked nervous. Good.

"I was just leaving." I turned around and started to walk briskly down the opposite hallway, leading to the stables I had just been visiting.

"No wait Rey, I mean Reyna, I think we need to talk." Golden Boy just can't seem to take a hint, though I guess, neither could I.

"Thinking and doing are two entirely different things, Grace." I said coldly, only pausing a small moment to let the words sink in before I continued.

That's when he grabbed my arm. My breathe froze as all the memories came back. The laughing at Octavion. The mornings he would bring me hot chocolate when I was irritable. The way he would force me to go to bed when I worked to hard. The holding hands. The rejection. It all came back so fast, like a slap in the face. A wake up call. I blinked fast before I turned towards him, no way in Pluto would he see me cry.

He looked at me pleadingly. "Please." Again'st my better judgement, I succumbed to him, like I always have. He was just to hard to resist. Or maybe I just didn't know how to say no.

"Fine." I said, in a curt, whisper. His demeanor changed slightly, like he mentally relaxed. But only slightly.

"I just, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I knew that you liked me and I didn't do anything to tell you otherwise. But Reyna, I just need to be sure that you won't take this out on Piper, she didn't do anything wrong." His eyes were pleading me to tell him what he wanted to hear. That I could never think of blaming sweet, innocent, little Piper. And I couldn't say no.

"Of course, it wasn't her fault." He smiled at me, content with my response. "Great, so can we be friends?" The smile was still there. I couldn't stand it.

"No Jason I don't think we can." The smile was gone.

"What do you mean, I thought we could go back to being what we were." He said, obviously confused.

Suddenly, my cold Praetor demeanor evaporated. "Were we ever really friends, Jason? What kind of a friend leads someone on like that? You knew all along and yet you did nothing. You don't know anything about me, and neither do I about you. We weren't friends Jason. We never will be. You are my fellow Co-worker. That is all."

"But I thought you said you didn't blame anyone."

"I said I wouldn't blame _Piper_." I spit her name out through my teeth. "I never said I wouldn't blame _you_." With that I turned and walked away. Leaving him with a hurt, dumb-founded expression on his face. How does it feel to be rejected Pretty Boy? Not to good huh? It looks like I had just learned how to say no. I felt bad for a moment. That moment wasn't long.

* * *

Dinner was an awkward occasion. More awkward than usual anyways. Since the dinning area wasn't large enough for all the Romans that were on board to eat together, people were placed just about everywhere. I just so happened to get placed with Mr. Sensitive and his gang. I had tried to keep out of any conversation, knowing they probably didn't want me there anyways. Until something caught my attention.

"I just can't wait to finally be home." Percy said "I really miss everyone there."

"Even Clarisse?" Annabeth said, smirking at him sideways.

Percy got this look on his face. It looked like a mix between annoyance and humor. "Eh, maybe."

Leo snickered. "I just can't wait to see her and Drew go at it. I've really missed their fights." Hazel looked horrified.

"Leo! Don't encourage fighting, that's a terrible thing to wish." Her innocence is just so cute sometimes.

"Who are they?" I cut in. Everybody looked surprised for a moment. They had forgotten I was here. Go figure. Percy was the one to answer my question.

"Well Clarisse is a Daughter of Ares, or Mars for you guys. And Drew is a Daughter of Aphrodite, or Venus." He said quite vaguely.

Leo cut in yet again. "Yeah, and those two go at each other over everything. It's hilarious! One time Drew called Clarisse's mom a whore during dinner, and Clarisse just got up and smashed her face into the wall! It was priceless!" He said, seemingly doing all he could to keep from cracking up.

"They sound lovely." I said with the straightest face possible.

"Did you just use sarcasm, Reyna?" Frank asked. I only smirked at him and went back to eating. They forgot about me fairly quickly, and we were right back to where we started. All I knew was that those two girls sounded interesting, especially that Drew girl.

* * *

The war ship's arrival at Camp Half Blood was an event in and of itself. There were about 100 kids standing near a huge pine tree. And of course, a centaur, Chiron I had learned his name was. The greeting they gave us was quite interesting. There were purple fireworks, that were somehow visible at 4 in the afternoon, Spelling out "Welcome Romans!" But the greeting the gave Percy was competely insane. Everybody went crazy with welcoming him back. It was sweet how they all cared.

After everyone got settled though, it was time to sort the campers into their cabins.

Chiron ended up somehow quieting all of us down so that he could be heard throughout the now 180-ish of us. He began by welcoming us whole-heartedly and by telling us the main rules of Camp Half Blood. The later of which was very boring so to speak.

"Now, it is time for us to assign you all to your respective cabins. Would your Praetor please come forward with your camper list please." And just like that all eyes were on me. I felt nervous as I walked up to the centaur, it was nerve-racking to have everybody stare at you so expectantly. Especially people I didn't know. But I didn't let that show, I was the Praetor after all. After I had handed him the list I went back to the general area of my original spot, towards the left and in the front of all the Romans.

"Now to begin; Jason Grace, you will be residing in Cabin 1, I trust you know where to go. Daniel Garfield, Sean Joseph, Jessica Peterson, Carrie West, and Simon Hughes you will be staying in Cabin 4, Katie and Miranda will show you the way..." It went on like that for a while, the number of campers slowly dwindling as they went to their respective cabins. Until the only ones left where; Chiron, Annabeth, Percy, and I.

Chrion was the first to speak. "Reyna, considering there is no cabin for Bellona you will have to stay in the Athena or Ares cabins. Which is it you would like?" Before I could answer Annabeth spoke up.

"Reyna just stay in my cabin. It's much nicer than cabin 5. Besides you won't get along with the Ares campers anyways."

"Well I-" I started but then Percy spoke up.

"Chiron, where was Clarisse? I didn't see her." Chiron's eyes looked on the verge of amusement and annoyance.

"Well Percy, Miss La Rue is actually in the kitchen on dish duty because she broke Mr. Rodriguez's nose."

"Why was that?" Annabeth asked, obviously entertained. I could now tell that Chiron's eyes just showed pure amusement.

"I believe it had something to do with him calling her 'sweetheart', though I could be mistaken." That's when Percy burst out laughing.

"Oh gods I missed Camp." He said after his laughing fit. "Well I need to go unpack, you coming Wise girl?"

"Of course." She said with a role of her eyes. Chiron's eyes followed their retreating forms. It was obvious he cared about every single camper here. These Greeks were so much more different than the Romans, that was for sure. But no fights had broken out yet. So I guess I'll count the small blessings.

"Now, Reyna, have you decided on your cabin yet?" Chiron asked me.

"Yes," I said slowly. "I think I'd like to stay in cabin 5."

* * *

When I saw the Ares cabin, I began second guessing my choice. It was painted a grotesque red color, like blood. It had barbed wire lacing the perimeter of the roof. The most frightening part though, was the boars head at the top of the door. I was startled by the fact that I had a subconscious sense of home. Weird.

The only constant reassurance I had was the fact that Frank was in there. At least I knew someone if this whole thing blew up in my face. As I stood in front of the door, duffel bag thrown over my shoulder, gathering my wits, someone's voice shook me back to reality.

"You just gonna stand there or what?" The voice said. I turned slowly to find a girl who looked to be about 17 and was built like a basketball player. She was wearing an over sized sweatshirt that said 'Bogotá, Colombia' on it with a pair of jeans and running shoes. She had brown hair tied back in a ponytail, with a red bandana over it, her bangs hung loosely in her face.

"I'm going in actually." I said. This seemed to surprise her.

"Why?" She questioned.

"I'm assigned here." I replied.

She raised her eyebrows at this. She almost seemed, hopeful. "Daughter of Mars?"

"No." I answered. "Bellona." She seemed satisfied with this answer.

"Whats you name 'Daughter of Bellona'?" As she said this it seemed more like an accusation than a question.

"Reyna, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion." I said, my tone on the verge of sounding cautious. I could tell that this girl did not have a very long temper and that she was like a time bomb, only seconds from going off.

She smirked at me. "Clarisse La Rue." That caught me off guard. Though I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, considering She was a daughter of Ares, and I was right outside her cabin. But still she didn't fit the description Percy and the Greeks had given me. Sure she was intimidating, but she didn't look like the cruel person they described her to be.

She made a 'follow me' motion as she walked up to the door. I obliged. As she opened the door I was met with very loud music and about 15 teenage boys in one room. Together. Clarisse seemed to be the only girl in here.

With her fist she banged one of the walls, instantly getting everyone's attention.

"All our little Romans, get to the back wall!" She yelled. Me and six others, Frank included, followed her instructions. "Now, you all may have your own little schedules at your Camp, but this is Camp Half Blood and more specifically, The Ares cabin. Which means you follow our rules. You will train with us, eat with us, and live with us for the rest of the summer, so may as well get that through your heads now!" She said fiercely. This girl obviously didn't take any shit. I was starting to like her.

She stared us down for another minute, silently daring anyone to disagree with her. No one did. "Carry on." She said. With that everyone went back to waht they were doing. Arm wrestling, burping contests, things of that nature. I started trying to find a bunk when Clarisse spoke up.

"Reyna come with me, I'll get you a bunk." She led me through a door I hadn't even noticed when we came in that led to a second room. It was identical to the one we were just in, except smaller. But this one was much cleaner and it only looked like on of the four bunk beds was being used. I realized it was Clarisse's bunk.

"You sleep here all alone?" I asked.

"Yup." She said nonchalantly. "This is the girl's side of the cabin. It's just you and me now." She smirked. I looked back at her, my eyebrow raised.

"Okay then, count me in." I threw my bag on the bed next to hers. I think I had just made a potential friend, maybe I wouldn't be so lonely after all.

I think I'm starting to warm up to this change thing.

~o~

**Firstly, I have no idea where I'm going with this, it just popped into my head. Secondly, I'm sorry Drew didn't come into this chapter, it just didn't work out like that. My bad. And Thirdly, I'm sorry, but I had to include some minor chrisse in here, I can't help it. Hence the nose punching and the over sized sweatshirt. By the way, this is in no relation to 'Tranquility', they're two separate things. I'm kind of excited to see where this goes, honestly. Let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I believe an explanation is in order for my rather unexcused absence. Unfortunately I have nothing to say other than I just haven't been inspired lately. So sorry if this chapter isn't to entertaining, but I have to say, to those of you who review it makes me feel good and makes me want to write more so thanks to you guys. **

~o~

When Clarisse had told us we would be training with the Ares cabin, I had just brushed it off as nothing. We trained at Camp Jupiter, this wouldn't be difficult at all. This would be a walk in the park.

That was before she woke the cabin up at 6:30 in the morning to go on a 7 mile run around camp. More like a sprint through the park.

We got back to the cabin at 7:00. Then Clarisse lectured her cabin, the Romans were excused just this once, about how their stamina was terrible and how "their lazy asses should be able to run seven fucking miles in 20 minutes tops." Except she was yelling. Really loudly. After about 8 minutes of screaming she dismissed us to shower and get ready for the rest of the day. Apparently that was the warm-up for the warm-up. Oh joy.

"So how do you feel about Camp so far?" Clarisse asked me, with a smirk on her face.

"Sore, particularly my legs." I said with a laugh.

She chuckled. "Come on we need to get to the showers before the Aphrodite's get there, they always use all the hot water."

With that we grabbed our clothes and toiletries and set off to the shower cabins. That was one of the things I wouldn't get used to. At Camp Jupiter the Bath House was always well kept and clean. Here though, you were lucky if you didn't see more than one or two roaches. Personally not something I want to experience when I'm showering.

When we got to the showers, it seemed like someone was already in there. I wondered who would be up this early, besides the Ares cabin anyways. Camp didn't really "start" until 8 o'clock. Clarisse claimed a shower stall and turned the water on. I decided it would be weird if I went to one of the showers next to either one of the occupants so I chose one near the back. After what I judged to be about 6 minutes one of the showers cut off. About two minutes later the door to the cabin slammed shut. A few minutes later I finished and cut the water off. I dressed quickly and exited the shower to go brush out my hair at the sink.

I was surprised to see that Clarisse was gone, I had assumed it was the girl that was here before us that had left. But it seemed that Clarisse had finished getting ready rather quickly. As I began towel drying my hair, the third shower's curtain got thrown aside and out stepped a beautiful girl who looked about 16, my age.

She was wearing a pair of shorts and a tight T-shirt. She was Asian and had long dark hair with dark eyes framed with long lashes. She was gorgeous. And she knew it.

I realized I had been staring so I quickly averted my eyes and went back to brushing the rats nest I called my hair. All the while I was brushing out the knots in my hair, the girl had taken out a make-up bag and began applying the products to her face. I didn't think she needed it. I was beginning to feel nervous around this girl and I quickly put my hair in its trade mark braid and bee-lined it out of there. I walked quickly back to Cabin 5, trying to forget the awkward encounter I had just had.

"Took you long enough." I heard as I walked through the door to the Girl's side of the cabin. Sure enough there was Clarisse, red bandana and all.

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry your Highness, my mistake."

She simply chucked her pillow at my face. "You have to go get a tour of camp after breakfast today smartass."

"With who?"

"Someone from the Hermes cabin, I'm not sure who though." I couldn't for the life of me remember which Greek god Hermes was.

Clarisse seemed to sense my confusion. "Uh, I'm pretty sure its Mercury for you guys?" Yep that cleared it up.

"So the counselor is just going to show us around?"

"No I'm pretty sure the older members are going to split you up into groups and give you the grand tour." She said just as the bell for breakfast sounded.

"Okay then. "

* * *

Breakfast was confusing, I admit. I didn't really understand the point of throwing a portion of our food into a fire, but I just assumed it was a Greek thing. Clarisse led the cabin throw the line at the fire and then back again to the Ares table. I was so absorbed in the fact that my glass would fill with whatever drink I wanted that I almost missed when an extremely tall Hispanic boy brushed pass Clarisse, a smirk prominent on his face. Right under a blue and purple nose that was obviously broken.

Interesting.

The meal flew by quickly, Clarisse and I just making small talk the whole time. Before I knew it the nymphs had collected everyone's plates and campers were dispersing to there activities for the day. All except for the Romans. I wasn't sure I wanted to go on this "tour". It would make my stay here feel permanent and I missed New Rome. I was homesick.

As I wallowed in my self pity Chiron began calling out names to be put in groups with different Mer- Hermes campers. The group I was put in was relatively small, it seemed like we were the left overs. The group consisted of 7 people, including myself, and I wasn't really acquainted with any of them. Great, cue the awkward silences. After a while of waiting my "group" got assigned to one of the older campers in cabin 11. The guy looked about 19. As I studied his appearance it dawned on my that this was the guy who bumped into Clarisse this morning.

As I was thinking this the boy cleared his throat to try and get our attention. "Uh, hey guys. So I'm Chris and I'm gonna show you all around today."

There was a beat of awkward silence as we stared each other down, Chris VS Romans. He seemed to be able to move past this as he urged us out of the dinning pavilion to go show us the rest of the cabins.

Being a leader for a long period of time had programmed my mind to always be at the front ready to give instructions. So it was unsurprising when I ended up right behind Chris. To my discomfort Chris seemed to be one of those people who always loved to be involved in a conversation. I just so happened to be the victim.

"So what's your name?" He said with a smirk as he glanced over sideways at me.

"Reyna." I replied curtly.

"No last name Rey Rey?" I was beginning to get the feeling that this boy liked to deliberately piss people off. And it was working.

"Don't call me that!" I snapped at him. "And I don't go by my full name, its just Reyna." I answered back. He just chuckled and began talking about the "destination" we had just reached. It went on like that for a while. Him talking about "the wondrous sights of Camp Half Blood", while it was obvious most of the group members could care less, and him striking up conversation with me as we traveled to the next stop on the tour.

Eventually the gods forsaken tour came to an end and the Romans went off to find there cabin mates for the summer and rejoin their activities. Apparently Chris and I were going to the same activity; sword fighting.

"So your staying in the Ares cabin, huh?"

"Yeah." I laughed

"So on a scale of 1 to 10 how welcoming has the children of the god of all things violent been?" He asked, humor clearly laced in his voice. Before I had the chance to reply, our conversation, if you could call it that, was interrupted by yelling, very loud yelling. Chris and I quickly followed the screaming voices to the outside of the arena where there seemed to be an argument on the brink of becoming an all out fight. Chris started walking faster, I had a feeling he knew who was inside the ring of bystanders.

"Go suck a dick its the only gods damned thing you're good at!" An extremely familiar voice yelled.

"Oh please, I can tear you down with no effort at all. You underestimate my mothers power." A second voice shot back.

"Oh right, how could I forget the Goddess of STD's. I can see the family resemblance!" Chris and I managed to push our way through the crowd just as the girl from the bathroom slapped Clarisse across the face.

The punch came almost instantly and connected with the girl's jaw. Within moments a bruise began to form. I faintly heard an 'oh shit' from Chris before he took off into the middle of the fight and somehow managed to hold Clarisse back. The other girl, however, seemed to be tougher than she looked and the instant Clarisse stopped swinging she was back on her feet clawing at Clarisse's face with perfectly manicured nails. Clarisse all but threw Chris off of her and grabbed the other girl by her hair. They two became part of a classic girl fight. Both with their hands firmly wrapped in the others hair and screaming and pulling at each other the whole time.

I didn't even notice when Chiron showed up.

"STOP THIS INSTANT!" It was actually quite terrifying to see the centaur yell. And everyone else must have thought so too because the campers who didn't disperse themselves instantly, immediately took three steps back.

"You two should be ashamed of yourselves, fighting in the midst of the visit of our guests. You two both know full well that fighting is not allowed outside training. I am very disappointed in you two." His tone was cold and steely, a tone I would have never expected from the loving teacher Chiron was.

"It wa-" The other girl began.

"I don't need excuses Miss Tanaka." He snapped at her. She instantly quieted. "Miss La Rue, Big House. Now. As for you Mr. Rodriguez, go to your next activity. And someone please take Miss Tanaka to the infirmary." He ordered. With that Chiron walked, or, trotted away to the Big House with Clarisse in tow. All the remaining campers went on to their next activities, Chris included though he didn't look to pleased about it. I noticed that no one seemed to be willing to help the girl to the infirmary.

I walked over to her and offered her my hand to help her off the ground. I had to ignore the butterflies that jumped into my stomach when she accepted. We didn't speak as we walked to the infirmary, I wasn't really taking her, considering I didn't quite remember where it was. But all the same the silence wasn't awkward like it was early that morning, it was simply just silence.

When we walked into the infirmary I saw that almost every cot was filled with Apollo campers caring for each one. It was obvious that we would have to wait. But this girl had other plans.

"Will come here!" She yelled. A handsome blonde haired boy with blue eyes walked over to us.

"What is it Drew?" He said, obviously exhausted.

"I need you to give my something for my face. It's starting to swell, and I can not rock that look." She said matter-o-factly

"Tragic." Will said with a role of his eyes. He handed her an ice pack wrapped in a rag. "Just keep that pressed on there and you'll be okay. You might want to clean out those cuts too." He said.

"Well then do it." This girl was really starting to sound like an all out bitch.

Will just rolled his eyes. "I can't right now I'm kind of busy." He turned and faced me. "You think you could take care of it? It's real simple." Somehow I just couldn't refuse those blue eyes. They were so much like Jason's.

"Okay, sure." I said. Cleaning out a few scraps couldn't be that hard, right?

"Thanks, you're a life saver." He said with a smile and with that he walked away to his next "patient".

I took the second rag Will had handed me and began dabbing the cuts on the girl, Drew's, face and arms. It was hard to concentrate with her staring at me the whole time. I was finally forced into starting a conversation, which is exactly what I think she wanted.

"Why were you guys fighting?" I blurted out. Not a very polite introduction, but oh well.

"We don't like each other." She replied simply.

"Way to be specific."

She laughed. "I don't really know why we don't like each other, all I know is that when I'm in the same room with her, I just get so angry. I'm pretty sure the feelings are mutual though."

The conversation on the Argo II came back to me, how Leo kept talking about the "legendary" Drew VS Clarisse fights.

"That's too bad..." I said quietly. Not knowing what else to say.

"Eh, not really she's pretty hard to be around. It's amazing that Chris still puts up with her. He could do better."

That caught my attention, but then I realized that it all made sense. The punching in the nose, the over sized sweatshirt, the brushing past her at breakfast, the asking about the Ares cabin. Chris Rodriguez and Clarisse La Rue were an item. That sure was news.

"There." I said. "All done."

She examined the cuts she had obtained and nodded in what I hoped was approval. "...thanks." She said slowly, as if she wasn't used to saying the word.

"I'm Reyna by the way." I blurted out. _Way to sound like a total dork Reyna, great job._

She just flashed her brilliant white teeth in a smirk as she turned to walk away. "Drew." She said over her shoulder.

_Drew Tanaka,_ I said in my head. Her name was simple. Short and sweet. There really wasn't anything special about it.

And I liked it.

~o~

**I know I'm a terrible person, I make you wait forever for a new chapter and when I do update its boring as fuck. (Pardon me). I'm still in the beginning stage with this where I'm trying to introduce all the characters, but not all at once where it becomes to fast paced. Reviews make Sam happy, so if you can I'd appreciate it!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Lets just pretend that a four month absence isn't that long.**** I'm sorry for any of you who actually read what I write. Time just got away from me I guess. Along with inspiration. This chapter is definitely dedicated to the author of "Daughter of War", Cameron Grant, because of their review that really got me inspired again. So thank you, internet acquaintance.**

~o~

By the time I got back to the arena, the activities were just about to switch. Meaning I had about ten minutes left to practice sword fighting. It seemed that most people had decided it was quitting time at this point, meaning the whole Mercury cabin, so I figured it wasn't worth beginning, given the fact that I had little to no time left. So I settled to finding Chris leaned up again'st the arena wall looking as gloomy as ever.

"Why do you look so upset?" I said as I joined him on the wall, watching the children of war make the most of the five-ish minutes the had left.

"Nothing, it's just-" he stopped himself suddenly and looked over at me. Assuming he could trust me, I suppose, he continued. "-Chiron told Claire that if she had another major offence he'd be forced to send her back to Arizona for a little while." Huh, no wonder he seemed a little distraught. I was never good at comforting people nor giving advice, so I guess the casual "Oh" I gave would have to suffice. He only nodded in return.

Just then the bell signaled to switch to the next activity of the day; Arts and crafts with the Vulcan cabin, or at least that's what Clarisse told me. I wasn't sure exactly where to go, so I just followed the huge, muscular kids to gazebo like place with the top roofed over, but no walls.

The awkward part was finding where to sit. This camp was so different than what I was used too. Here I was just another camper. Sure it was nice to not have so many expectations drilled down on me, but I felt like I wasn't needed. What was my purpose here?

A muscular girl with cocoa colored skin seemed to notice my internal battle and waved me over to where she was sitting. I walked over slowly, just to make sure she wasn't motioning to someone behind me. That would be embarrassing, definitely not something I needed on my second day here.

With a quick gesture she signaled for me to sit down. No words were spoken. It was probably a good two to three minutes before she looked up and barley met my eyes then said,

"Nyssa." She said this very rushed, like she was afraid of messing up. It took me a moment to register she was even introducing herself.

"Reyna." I said quickly, not wanting to come off rude. She nodded her head, completely satisfied with my lack of communication.

The child of Apollo, Kayla, I think her name was, began explaining the lesson for today once everybody was seated. That was something I found very interesting about Camp Half-Blood, the campers actually took shifts in teaching lessons to the younger or less experienced campers, instead of in New Rome how the retired demigods would help sharpen the younger demigods' skills.

No body seemed to paying her much attention.

The girl, Nyssa, and I worked in silence, the lesson simply being to sketch something from mythology. I chose the founding of the Old Rome, with Romulus and Remus. I raised my eyes to look over at Nyssa and saw an intricate, charcoal sketch that seemed anything like something out of ancient mythology. It looked like a high-tech engine of some kind.

She must have noticed my wandering eyes when she said, "It's for an automaton, to help keep the monsters at bay in the woods." Her voice caught me by surprise, I was astonished she had said so many words at once. She struck me as a major introvert, a very timid type of girl.

"Interesting." I replied, still analyzing the engine.

I was so caught up in the detail of the sketch that I didn't notice a certain daughter of war sit down across from me. I wouldn't have noticed her if it weren't for Nyssa.

"I see you met Nyssa, have any interesting conversations?" The smirk in her voice was almost tangible. So to speak her voice startled me a bit.

"Uh, yeah?" Wow, very articulate Reyna. Way to make an impression.

"Hades, Clarisse, what did you do to your face?" Surprisingly that one came from Nyssa, a daughter of Vulcan I was assuming.

"Tanaka happened. Bitch tore up my face pretty good huh? I personally didn't know she had it in her." To say Clarisse's face was "a little scratched" would be an understatement. She had four, deep cuts starting at her right eyebrow and traveling all the way down to her chin. That had to sting.

Nyssa only chuckled. "You should probably stop underestimating her, bitch may be from Aphrodite but she's still programmed to fight. She is a demigod ya know." She said program like she was talking about a computer. Interesting.

"Yeah sure, and I'm actually secret besties with Prissy. We paint each others nails and everything." She snorted out. The sarcasm in this girl was astounding.

We worked in silence for another ten or so minutes, with the occasional "Pass the magenta colored pencil, please" or what-not. Nyssa working on her engine, and I on my sketch. It wasn't half bad to be honest.

Clarisse on the other hand didn't seem to be doing anything of great importance, just folding paper airplanes and throwing them at her brother's, I think his name was Mark, head. Of course Nyssa would butt in occasionally and lecture her on the proper aerodynamics, but Clarisse didn't really seem to care.

After another five minutes, Mark's temper seemed to evaporate and he whipped around to send Clarisse a death glare while wholeheartedly giving her a clear view of his middle finger. She just returned the gesture with an obnoxious looking smirk and turned back to our table.

"So Reyna, next we have a free hour before lunch you wanna go to the lake with Nys and I, maybe a couple others?" Clarisse asked.

I shrugged, trying to come off nonchalant and replied, "Sure, sounds fun."

She smiled, genuinely this time, "Great."

~o~

"A couple people" was a little misleading. There were about nine other people in Clarisse's little group, excluding us three. Instantly I became nervous with meeting so many new campers at one time, but I instantly shook it off once I saw a familiar face. Meaning Frank. I was still hesitant about hanging out with these people but I would have to get over it. This was good for me, it was time to start being a teenager.

Clarisse began introducing me to everyone. "Alright so this is Will," I recognized him from the infirmary this morning. "And this is Lou Ellen and Katie, they're dating those two idiots." She pointed to two identical looking boys, though one was taller. After her accusation the two began to protest rather loudly.

"They're Travis and Connor." She continued, completely ignoring the two boys. "This is Jake, he's Nyssa's brother, and this is Breanna, she's a daughter of Hermes." She finished her little introduction.

"Excuse me Caroline, I think you forgot me and this wonderfully quiet half brother of your's." Stated the oh-so-familiar Hispanic boy that I had failed to notice.

"Yes you dimwit, she knows you two already." Clarisse said rolling her eyes. This concluded in snickers from the two brothers. After that we all sat around in the shade on the lake, talking and getting to know each other, or at least getting to know Frank and I. It was nice to finally feel like I was part of a group. I hadn't realized how much I was actually missing out on. I smiled to myself as Chris made a joke about the Ares Cabin which in turn caused Clarisse to smack him on the back of the head. It was nice to think these teenagers could all be my potential new friends.

This of course was interrupted by the sudden presence of a beautiful Asian, wearing some concoction of Victoria's Secret perfume and mascara.

~o~

**Yay chapter three! So I'm feeling okay with this most of my main characters have been introduced, if only briefly. I still have no idea where I'm going with this so be prepared for a bumpy ride. Sorry this was kind of boring, I'm thinking about putting a capture the flag game in soon, but I'm not sure.**

**Question, were any of you a bit disappointed with "The Blood of Olympus"? I liked it, but it still wasn't all I expected it to be. Anyways, as always, I appreciate reviews and feedback. Thanks you guys.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I feel like I shouldn't even say sorry anymore. Me not updating is way to regular a thing.**

~o~

"What do you want Tanaka?" A harsh voice said. Surprisingly it wasn't Clarisse's, but Nyssa's.

"Nothing that concerns you, grease monkey." She said snottily. Nyssa's face darkened, but before she could act upon her obvious anger, Chris spoke up.

"Is there something you needed?" He said much more patiently, obviously the peacekeeper of the group.

"Yes actually, Chiron sent me." She turned to look directly at Clarisse. "He wanted me to tell you that you have kitchen duty for the next 2 weeks."

Clarisse raised an eyebrow, "I already knew that, is that all you came here for?"

Drew flipped her hair out of her face, "He also said you needed to come to the Big House. I think someone's there to see you or something." Clarisse gave a sharp nod while getting up to her feet, Chris instantly beginning to follow until he received a well practiced glare and sat back down again.

Drew began to look a bit uncomfortable as her message was already delivered and she had about 12 pairs of eyes staring at her. "Well, that's all..." she said awkwardly, leaving her sentence hanging as if she wanted to add something else. "...Bye Reyna." I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I wasn't expecting acknowledgement from a girl I had only met about 6 hours ago.

And with that she turned on her incredibly high heels and flaunted away.

"Gods I cant stand her." Nyssa grumbled. Lou Ellen looked at Nyssa a little guilty, as she twirled her bright purple hair around her finger.

~o~

Our free period (sounds a bit like school, huh?) ended all to soon with Nyssa being in a sour mood the rest of the time while the three Hermes boys desperately tried to keep the mood light and fun.

Once the lunch bell sounded everyone got up and began walking together, I fell in step with Frank. Travis grabbed Katie's hand and parctically dragged her away, and I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Don't get me wrong I don't need a love life to define myself, but it would be nice to have a hand to hold every once and a while.

Then I noticed Lou Ellen. As Connor went to hold her hand, she screwed her face in what looked to be utter discomfort. 'That's peculiar.' I thought, but no one else seemed to notice. Oh well, her and Connor's relationship is their own business, I shouldn't pry. I then turned my attention to Frank who was walking along a lot more confident than I had ever seen him. Getting promoted would do that to you I suppose.

"So Frank," I said. "How are you liking camp so far?" He looked a bit startled that I had addressed him, but he quickly composed himself with a small, friendly smile.

"It's actually been nice. I didn't expect to like my new siblings, but they really aren't that bad. I mean everyone made them out to be as bad as Cyclops and hellhounds or something, but really they're just a bit hot tempered is all." He rambled on.

"You know they have land mines right?" I joked/informed him, a smirk residing on my lips.

He looked a little queasy at that statement, "Of course they do. Why am I not surprised?" He said with an awkward laugh. At this point we had reached the Dining Pavilion and campers were already serving themselves and making their offerings. I quickly found the children of War (they aren't hard to miss) and joined them in line with Frank.

As I looked around I couldn't see Clarisse. She couldn't still be a the Big House, could she? I looked around to see if she was at any other tables socializing, she had a tendency to disobey the simplest of rules. I couldn't find her, but my gaze soon rested on the Venus table where I saw Gwen and Piper laughing about something. My eyes wandered down the table until I met very plain, brown eyes that seemed to be the most beautiful things in the world.

It seemed as if she had been waiting for me to look her way, her gaze already fixed on mine. It bothered me a bit, how she always seemed two steps ahead of me in every way. She turned the corner of her mouth into a sly smile that couldn't quite be labeled a smirk. As if to say '_turn around genius.' _As if on cue, Sherman shoved my shoulder and told me to "Get a fucking move on" seeing as there was a huge gap in the line, courtesy of me. Way to go Reyna, its only your second day and you're already making a fool of yourself.

I grabbed my food hastily, and sat down next to Frank. I felt quite awkward since Clarisse wasn't here, I had only known her for a very short period of time, but I already thought of her as a good friend. Annabeth seemed to notice me sitting at the Ares table and caught my eye, giving my a confused yet stern look. I probably should have told her what cabin I had chosen to stay in, in hindsight. I broke our eye contact and turned back to Mark and Frank who were having a heated discussion on whether archery or throwing knives were better in long distance fighting.

I smiled to myself, this was kind of like having a family.

~o~

The rest of the day was wholly uneventful. Dinner was just about the same as lunch, the campfire however was very nice. I noticed that Clarisse was still nowhere to be found, no one seemed to be worried though. I wasn't surprised, she was the kind of girl who could take care of herself. They only one who seemed to be making the slightest deal out of it was Chris, and the only thing he did was sing stupid lyrics halfheartedly and sigh every once and a while.

I have to admit, Camp Half-Blood was much different from Camp Jupiter. It was more laid back and free. It wasn't a crime to act like a fool or let go and be crazy every once and a while. I found myself relaxing more and more, letting the stress and tension disappear from my back and shoulders with every off-key lyric the campers sang. I looked into the bright yellow-orange flames that just seemed to be growing higher and I couldn't help but admire the perfectly average diva sitting just 5 rows over.

~o~

The campfire didn't end until about 11 o'clock and I was drop dead tired from my first day of camp. I was not looking forward to Clarisse's exercise and training routines in the slightest. All the boys were quickly getting ready for bed, some not even changing, just falling asleep in their camp shirts and jeans. I chuckled as I saw Frank instantly fall asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. I opened the door to the girls' side of the cabin while rubbing the sleep from my eyes so I could stay awake to change my clothes.

What I wasn't expecting was another girl sitting with Clarisse on her bunk talking in low voices, smiling like Cheshire cats.

"I..who? Who is this?" I managed to say.

Clarisse's head jerked in my direction, her smile not leaving her face. "This," she said. "Is Jenna, my sister." My surprised look must have gone noticed because the girl, Jenna, quickly stood and made her way to me as to introduce herself.

"Hi, names Jenna Anderson." She said with a rather prominent southern drawl as she stuck her hand out, which I immediately shook so as to not appear rude.

"Reyna." I said with a polite nod. I took a moment to look the girl over. She had ragged shoulder-length reddish hair, she must have cut it herself. Her nose was long and a bit crooked, like she had broken it more than once, her eyebrows were sharp and made her look a bit angry and they made her brown eyes stand out quite a bit. Though she was very muscular, she was also quite short, probably about 6 inches shorter than Clarisse, making her about 5'2. She also looked very young most likely no older than 15. Then I realized something.

"Clarisse, I thought you said you were the only girl?" I said looking questionably at Clarisse. "Unless you just got claimed today?" I directed towards Jenna. Clarisse was the one who answered me.

"Usually when a summer-round camper doesn't come back the first day and Chiron doesn't know about a late arrival date, the camper is presumed either dead or that they aren't coming back. And this genius here forgot to tell Chrion she was going to be two weeks late, so we assumed the worst. That's why I told you I was the only one."

Then Jenna spoke up. "There was Natalie too, but she died in the war." She said with an almost sad look in her eye.

"I'm so sorry." I said, trying to sound consoling and failing.

"Eh, its fine. We weren't close. She was a newbie too, was only at camp for about 8 months." She said, clearly not bothered by the death of the young girl. Then again, when you're the child of war, you've got to have a wall built up, so you're numb to losing people. I suppose you, or we, wouldn't survive if we didn't.

I simply nodded in response. "Well, I think I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted."

Clarisse nodded. "I think we should all hit the hay. Gotta be ready to get up tomorrow." Jenna just groaned in response.

I smiled to myself as I shrugged under my blanket. My first couple days at camp had been pretty intense. I wondered how the rest of the summer would be. Still, as I began to drift away to sleep, I couldn't help but think of high heeled shoes and very average, beautiful brown eyes.

~o~

**Eli, this was all for you. Hope it's to your liking XD.**


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